As I was running this morning, the “Jalad” episode from the Star Trek Enterprise series came to mind.  In this episode, the Tamarians turned the story of a legendary figure who stood up to a beast, into part of their language which is based entirely on metaphor.  “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” describes an attempt by two people to understand each other by sharing a common experience. When the Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise was attempting to communicate with a Tamarian counterpart, the Tamarian used the metaphor as an example, helping Picard decipher their cryptic language.

Every other week a group of men and women from all walks of faith and various nations come together for “Heartfelt Conversations” to discuss what is on our hearts.  This week one gem I took with me was from a Spiritual minister from the Sufi tradition.  She said that there is the belief that if we allowed the spirit within our bodies to stretch and expand as far as it was capable, we would be able to reach for and touch the stars above us.

We live in a “pocket” neighborhood  which means we’re just enough out of the city limits to enjoy the freedom of nature and are located just enough within reach of the City, to not be too far out. All the homes in the neighborhood enjoy space (everyone has from one to three acres surrounding their home).  Consequently we see coyotes, foxes, raccoons, birds of all varieties, etc.  Yesterday on my morning run, I caught a deer by surprise and watched it take off across the road and effortlessly leap over a five foot fence.  It was amazing to watch how she tucked her front legs up to her belly and swung her back legs all the way behind her as she pushed her chest forward so that the momentum allowed her to cross over the fence without too much effort. I could see where the idea of reindeer flying came from.

Nettie Hartsock is a good friend of mine who is a writer, editor, provocateur and inspirational teacher. She is a mom of two very special kids, Emma and Gibson and a wife of one zany children’s musician and teacher, Andy Hartsock (who has a CD coming out at the end of this summer with my favorite song, “Five Little Monkeys”). 

Jack Kornfield, the Buddhist teacher, described a spiritual truth he learned at a bingo game he attended with his elderly parents in Florida sometime ago.  There on the wall, in huge letters, was a sign reminding the players, You Have to Be Present to Win.  I love how we can find deep spiritual reminders about what is really important in the simplest of ways. There are reminders and clues all around us and when we are present we have a better chance of recognizing them when the clues appear.

Have you seen the very end of “Men in Black” where the aliens are playing dice with planets (and Earth is one of them!)?  It reminds me that there are all these little worlds within our world. I’ve always been fascinated by groups of people who seem to be in their “own little world” — pick a subject: Scuba divers, runners, doll collectors, digital photographers, Coaches, therapists..etc. etc. etc.  Like a Venn Diagram our worlds overlap each other constantly. 

Two clients this week both are working on re-creating themselves in terms of what they do for a career.  Both have been independently contracting for various projects and jobs as they can. Both have babies on the way!  As we explored what their options were for new career paths, I invited them think about all the people they know and have met in their projects, jobs, through friends, through extracurricular activities.  It is surprising all the connections we each have if we sit down and think about it.

All the personality trait assessments that I’ve ever taken say that I’m a creative person.  I sure didn’t agree with this assessment because I couldn’t see where I was creative since I don’t have a home full of paintings or sculptures of art that I’ve created nor are there any published books (yet).  So I just assumed that being labeled “creative” was a politically correct way of saying that I can think in many, many directions (read: ADHD!).  I didn’t feel like I truly deserved being called creative because, I felt that I had nothing to show for it.